TORONTO — Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The Mavericks faced a severely undermanned opponent. They even took an early 15-point lead, then quickly squandered it.
This time the opponent was a Toronto team playing without five of its top eight rotation players, which made Saturday night’s 105-100 loss to the Raptors in Scotiabank Arena all the more frustrating. It followed the script of four previous defeats to short-handed teams.
Dallas has lost a season-high three straight games and four times in its last five outings. The Mavericks (9-9) are 1-6 on the road and now face a quick-turn Sunday night game in Milwaukee against the 13-5 Bucks.
The Mavericks outshot Toronto 47.9% to 43.2%, but doomed themselves by making only 11 of 39 3-point attempts (28.2%), committing 16 turnovers and getting pounded on the boards, 48-34.
“Of the 39 (threes), 25 of them were probably uncontested or lightly contested,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “That’s been the whole year. It’s about making threes in today’s game.
“We’re able to get into the paint. We’re able to get to the rim and finish. But right now we’re just not shooting the ball straight.”
The Raptors (10-9) double-teamed Luka Doncic most of the night, limiting him to 15 field-goal attempts and 24 points, including only six points and three shot attempts in the fourth quarter.“I thought Luka did a great job of playing four-on-three,” Kidd said. “He did what he was supposed to do. He had two on him. That just showed maturity. He didn’t force anything ... made all the right plays. Unfortunately we just didn’t capitalize on a lot of them.”
After Thursday’s loss in Boston, Kidd raised the hopes of Mavericks fans by lauding the fourth-quarter combination of Doncic and Christian Wood, strongly hinting that Wood might start on Saturday or at least get more court time with Doncic.
Toronto native Dwight Powell, however, again got the start at center. He certainly wasn’t the problem, nor was the starting lineup, which sped to a 22-7 lead with Powell scoring six points.
It was when Kidd began substituting that the Raptors and the crowd not only got back in the game, but took a lead that held until 9:15 remained in the game, when a pair of Doncic free-throws gave Dallas an 84-83 lead.
Doncic and Wood only played 3:15 together in the first quarter. Dallas got outscored 17-16 during the 7:53 they played together in the third quarter.
Wood didn’t score his first points until the final minute of the third quarter, but with Wood and Doncic sharing the court to start the fourth, Wood scored seven quick points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
But on a night when Wood made 2 of 4 3-pointers, raising his season average to 45%, he didn’t play in the final 5:41. Kidd said he decided to stay with Maxi Kleber, who scored 11 points in his first game back after missing four with a lower back injury.
The game was tied at 90 with 3:17 left, but the Mavericks were unable to take a lead thereafter.
Big Raptors rallies against Dallas hardly are a new occurrence. In this building on Dec. 22, 2019, the Mavericks tied a franchise record by blowing a 30-point lead in the final 14:32 of a three-point loss.
And 22 days ago in Dallas, the Mavericks led Toronto by 17 midway through the fourth quarter, but had to withstand a furious Raptors rally (even after Pascal Siakam got hurt) to pull out a one-point win.
The Raptors played without 2020 All-Star Siakam, reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, Otto Porter Jr. and Precious Achiuwa — most of its usual eight-man rotation.
The Mavericks lost at New Orleans on a night when the Pelicans were without three starters, including Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. They also lost to Orlando without Rookie of the Year favorite Paolo Banchero and at Washington when Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis were out.
